There are many misconceptions about how bankruptcy affects income tax debts. These facts will help make sense of this confusing arena. 1. Filing your bankruptcy case immediately stops virtually all tax collection actions against you. The IRS, your state taxing agency, and all other tax ... Read More »
Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13 and Your Home Mortgage
Here are 7 ways filing a Chapter 7 case can help you deal with your home lender and 8 ways filing a Chapter 13 one can. If you’re buying a home, your mortgage and other related debts are probably your biggest and most important ones. So it’s no surprise that the choice ... Read More »
Including Current-Year Income Taxes in Your Chapter 13 Case
If you expect to owe taxes for 2015, either wait until after the end of the year or do a partial-year tax return now and file Chapter 13. The Concern If you owe income taxes for last year—2015—you may again owe for 2016. You may again have not been able afford to have enough taxes ... Read More »
Chapter 13 Advantages for Resolving Income Tax Debts
If Chapter 7 doesn’t discharge your income taxes or let you pay or settle them reasonably, Chapter 13 is often easier, cheaper, and safer. The Chapter 7 Options The last few blog posts have covered the following ways of dealing with income tax debts with a Chapter 7 “straight ... Read More »
What Happens to Income Taxes in Bankruptcy
The two rather unpleasant-sounding topics—taxes and bankruptcy—can actually turn into a pretty good combination. If you got an extension to file 2016 tax returns, it’s now only three weeks until the extended October 17 deadline. So it’s a good time to look at the many ... Read More »
A Fresh Start for Your Home Partly Encumbered by a Tax Lien
Chapter 13 handles a tax lien on a home especially well when the home has enough equity to cover some but not all of the tax lien amount. In our last two blog posts we dug into tax liens, and we do so one more time today. Two blog posts ago it was about tax liens that have no equity at all to ... Read More »
A Fresh Start for Your Home Equity Encumbered by a Tax Lien
A tax lien encumbering the equity in your home is dangerous. Chapter 13 takes away the danger. If the IRS or your state tax collector records an income tax lien against your home, and you want to keep the home, sometimes through bankruptcy you don’t have to pay the tax. If ... Read More »
A Fresh Start with an Income Tax Lien on Your Home
You owe income taxes, and now the IRS or state has recorded a tax lien on your home. Chapter 13 may get rid of both the tax and the lien. Income Taxes that Can Be “Discharged” (Legally Written Off) If you owe an income tax debt, it can be discharged like most other debts. The tax ... Read More »
A Fresh Start with Unpaid Property Taxes on Your Home
Falling behind on property taxes is dangerous, and scares your mortgage lender. Bankruptcy can help you deal with both. Is Chapter 7 “Straight Bankruptcy” Enough Help? It possibly can give you enough of a fresh start with your other debts so that you can catch up on your property ... Read More »
Bankruptcy Timing: Include Income Taxes Owed for 2015 by Filing Chapter 13 in Early 2016
As of January 1, 2016 you can include any taxes you owe for the 2015 tax year in your Chapter 13 payment plan. If you’ve been thinking about filing bankruptcy, and expect to owe income taxes for 2015, you have an extra reason to file a Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” now ... Read More »
